News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on No limit to maximal lifespan in humans: how to beat a 122-year-old record. Parent comment

Re:No limit to maximal lifespan in humans: how to beat a 122... by vmception on Thursday December 16, 2021 @02:38AM (#29576000)
Which animals? Octopus have a glitch where their digestive tract shuts upon reaching sexual maturity, so they starve to death yet keep passing that gene on, just a few years into their lifespan. F for Failure (At least we dont have to compete on this planet with older smarter octopi)
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No limit to maximal lifespan in humans: how to beat a 122... by sdenton4 on Thursday December 16, 2021 @03:20AM (#29576196)
Are you sure it's a glitch?

Humans are useful to one another past childbearing age because we're social animals: caring for grandchildren helps them survive. Octopods, otoh, are notoriously solitary animals. Once they're done reproducing, surviving adults would mainly be in competition with the young.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No limit to maximal lifespan in humans: how to beat a 122... by vmception on Thursday December 16, 2021 @09:04AM (#29578183)
All natural selection is a glitch and pure happenstance with no meaning, only retroactively applied to have a purpose.

Octopus may well have genes to make them more social as they get older, but at 3 years old it hasn't developed.

[ Parent | on HN ]